I Didn’t Need Anyone Else to Be Impressed

Dear Delyara, One of the most grown-up feelings I’ve had lately is being proud of something without needing external excitement around it. I reached a goal. It mattered to me. And even though not many people fully understood the effort behind it, I still let myself feel satisfied. That is new. For a long time, achievements only felt real if they were reflected back to me by others. Now, slowly, they are beginning to feel real inside me first.